Go West Hi-Lites #1

Made it from Austin to Albuquerque in one piece! Holed up in a Rodeway Inn recharging my batteries etc. and getting my images and journaling done. I spent most of the day putting together my first short-form printed magazine that you can order and have delivered or you can buy a pdf document to download/print on your own computer. I'll put order links at the end of this post. These are longer versions, but first here's some excerpts and a photo gallery with some of my favorites.

Having no plan at all is only partially liberating. When you have no plan at all, you tend to think about what you’re going to do next all the time, i.e. should I turn here? Or stop there? With a plan it’s easier to let your mind wander a bit because you’ve already carved out what you’re going to do. On the other hand, not having a plan forces you to be in the moment even more because your mind can’t just sit back on auto-pilot. You’re forced to engage in the decision-making process non-stop.

Another issue to deal with is when to stop and make images. There’s something I want to stop and examine closer just about every mile or so. If I keep stopping, I’ll move along too slow. Why I think I should be moving along at any particular speed at all is a mystery. I mean, if I have proclaimed that I have no rules, I should be able to crawl OR fly, right?

Eventually, I just let go. I didn’t think about where I was going or when I would get there. Just sort of settled into a complete awareness of the road in front of me and all of the color and texture, or lack there of passing through my sight.

....when I was about 8 years old and watching my grandpa go bananas as they came across the finish line. This time it was just broken down people swilling warm beer and no one seeming to win anything at all. There’s also an Indian casino there now, but none of the magic I remember from my childhood. It could be that my eyes just can’t see with the wonder they used to.

Or, it could be times have changed and life’s just a bit more raw around the edges these days. I think I’ll try to concentrate and see if perhaps I can summon up the genies again. One thing was odd though, as I remembered my grandfather while I was at the track... it felt like he was right there with me... by the simple act of remembering him, it was like he was alive again.

The land surrounding this city is even bigger and more exposed than the parts of Texas I’d just ridden through. The peachy/turquoise colors they use in their bridges etc. don’t appeal to me much, but after the sun started to set and the clouds lit up with the last light like fire dancing from the heavens all the way down to the rocky hilltops... with a dramatic mountain backdrop in the distance... that light is something truly unique and the way it bounces off those peach & turquoise colors at that time of day makes the most perfect sense.

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• [in sing.] a constantly changing pattern or sequence of objects or elements : the dancers moved in a kaleidoscope of color.